Pollutants, such as exhaust gases from vehicles, such as sulfur oxides or nitrogen oxides, fine particles generated when production facilities are operated, and volatile organic compounds generated from various kinds of industrial products, become the cause of a chest complaint, a chronic pulmonary disease, and atopic disease.
Furthermore, dry indoor air causes mucous membrane xerosis and xerophthalmia, becomes the cause of a cold, bronchial asthma, and a nasal inflammation, and reduces the function of metabolism. Accordingly, an immune-enhancing effect is reduced, and fine particles are raised and spread, thereby propagating a virus riding on the fine particles.
The pollutants, such as fine particles, are commonly filtered by an air cleaner of a filtering method using a filter. This method has reached the limit in removing toxic element and had the limit that is unable to satisfy a humidity condition, that is, an essential element of a pleasant environment.
For the reasons above, a humidifier air cleaner and a portable humidifier according to a VENTA® method are recently being actively spread.
The humidifier air cleaner according to the VENTA® method has a structure in which a shaft on which several tens of disks are mounted is installed in a water tank, the lower parts of the disks are rotated with them being immersed into water, intake air passes through over the disks in order to wash air through contact between air and a water screen formed on a surface of the disks, thereby adsorbing and filtering pollutants included in air and controlling indoor humidity by vaporizing and humidifying water. The humidifier air cleaner according to the VENTA® method has a simple structure, including a fan configured to suck air, the disk shaft rotated while operating in conjunction with the rotation of the fan, and a water tank, and provides advantages in that it may effectively filter and separate pollutants, such as fine particles, through the adsorption and solubility of water and maintain reasonable indoor humidity through vaporization and humidification, that is, a principle that humidification is performed according to relative humidity. However, the humidifier air cleaner according to the VENTA® method is problematic in that the humidifier air cleaner is not suitable for a moving vehicle or students and office workers who use the humidifier air cleaner while moving because it is bulky and configured to fill water in the opened water tank and the humidifier air cleaner has difficult internal sanitary management because it has relatively high humidity within the casing and includes a lot of disk structures.
The portable humidifier according to the VENTA® method includes a portable humidifier disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2004-0106739 and humidifiers disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 10-2009-0099246 and 10-2009-0092674, in which humidification is performed by ultrasonic oscillation, such as a portable humidifier for performing humidification by ultrasonic vibration by using water contained in a container, such as a cup, without using an additional water tank for containing humidification water. Furthermore, WO2005/098323 proposes a structure having improved portability and an improved natural evaporation and humidification ability in such a manner that a humidification element is extended and modified when a casing is opened.
The humidifier using ultrasonic vibration has improved portability by separating a common ultrasonic humidifier from the water tank, but has the limit to a construction having sufficient output like a common humidifier for portability. In general, moisture particles of a spray form have a low dispersing property because they are greatly affected by gravity. Accordingly, the humidifier is problematic in that there is a danger of injury due to electromagnetic waves of high pressure for ultrasonic vibration when the humidifier is closely used and a person may have a feeling of rejection if the moisture particles of a spray form directly affect the respiratory organs. Furthermore, the humidifier is problematic in that a drop of water may propagate bacteria when a water source is polluted because the drop of water carries a virus of 0.2 to 0.3 μm in size and spreads along with the virus and humidification using ultrasonic vibration has the limit to the use of a charging battery because the humidifier has high consumption power.
The humidifier having improved portability and an improved natural evaporation and humidification ability by extending and modifying the humidification element may have excellent portability using a method of carrying the humidifier in a folded state and unfolding the humidifier and filing water when using the humidifier and pleasant humidification performance through vaporization and humidification according to relative humidity, and the humidifier is used for the humidification of one room in a hotel or independent small-sized spaces. However, the humidifier has a structure not suitable for personal proximity humidification in opened spaces, such as offices or libraries.
Meanwhile, in order to obtain a personal use effect in an air cleaner or a humidifier, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-0457645, WO2002/56966, and Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2008-0089727 provide personal cleaning air by supplying purified or humidified air to a hat, a spreader worn on the head, and a mask, but is disadvantageous in that they are inconvenient to use.